ANKARA, Türkiye — ASELSAN is expanding its counter-drone portfolio with a layered architecture designed to detect, track, identify and neutralize increasingly diverse mini- and micro-unmanned aerial vehicle threats, including FPV drones and drone swarms.
The Turkish defense company demonstrated its integrated DRONEDEF counter-UAV architecture in Ankara in June 2026, showing how different sensors, electronic-warfare systems and physical effectors can operate together against multiple aerial threats. The demonstration included wireless-controlled drones, fiber-optic-controlled drones and swarm formations.
The architecture is positioned as a lower-tier component of Türkiye’s Steel Dome air-defense concept, providing close-range protection for critical facilities, military units, convoys and other assets vulnerable to small UAV attacks.
DRONEDEF: A Layered Counter-Drone Concept
ASELSAN’s DRONEDEF is not a single weapon but a family of complementary systems managed through an integrated command-and-control architecture.
The company has identified the following components:
- İHTAR — Counter-UAV detection and electronic-warfare/soft-kill system
- GÖKBERK — 5/10 kW laser weapon system
- KORKUT 25 — 25 mm airburst weapon system
- GÖKALP — Autonomous interceptor UAV
- EJDERHA AD — High-Power Electromagnetic (HPEM) anti-UAV system
- ŞAHİN LITE — 40 mm / 12.7 mm / 7.62 mm counter-UAV weapon system
- ŞAHİN DUAL — Dual-weapon configuration combining 12.7 mm and 40 mm / 7.62 mm systems
- MİĞFER — Self-defense system specifically designed against FPV/kamikaze drones.
This architecture allows different effectors to be selected according to the characteristics of the incoming target rather than relying on a single interception method.
İHTAR: The Detection and Electronic-Warfare Layer
One of the central elements is ASELSAN’s İHTAR Counter-UAV System.
The official İHTAR 100 datasheet describes the system as being designed to neutralize mini- and micro-UAV threats in both urban and rural environments. It can be deployed on vehicles or in stationary configurations and can operate together with multiple anti-drone systems.
İHTAR 100 technical characteristics
Radar
- Ku-band pulsed-Doppler radar
- Pulse-compression technology
- Track-While-Scan capability
- Multi-target tracking
- Automatic target tracking
- 360-degree continuous or sector scanning
- 30 rpm rotation speed
- Automatic target classification
- 40-degree instantaneous elevation coverage
Command and control
- Centralized C2 architecture
- Air-picture generation
- Decision-support algorithms
- Sensor fusion
- Automatic tracking
- Threat evaluation and effector-assignment algorithms
- Integration of additional sensors such as acoustic detection and direction-finding systems
- Automatic UAV identification using thermal and daylight cameras.
The system is therefore designed to perform more than simple radar detection. It can combine information from multiple sensors and automatically assist with deciding which countermeasure should be used.
Electronic Warfare Against Drone Links
İHTAR also incorporates a programmable RF countermeasure system.
According to ASELSAN, the system can conduct active jamming against frequencies associated with radio controls, remote-control systems, mobile communications, Wi-Fi, GNSS and drone data/image/video transmission links. It also supports directional and omnidirectional antennas and programmable jamming frequencies.
ASELSAN specifically highlights the ability to use directional jamming against individual threats and omnidirectional jamming for swarm attacks.
The system also supports preloaded frequency groups and software-programmable jamming, allowing its electronic-warfare configuration to be adapted as the threat environment changes.
This is particularly important against FPV drones because many modern battlefield UAVs rely on radio-frequency links for control and video transmission.
However, fiber-optic-controlled FPV drones present a different challenge, because they are not dependent on a conventional radio-control link during the terminal attack. ASELSAN’s 2026 demonstration specifically included fiber-optic-controlled drones, highlighting the need for hard-kill and directed-energy options in addition to electronic warfare.
GÖKBERK: Laser-Based Hard Kill
The second major layer is the GÖKBERK Laser Weapon System.
ASELSAN describes GÖKBERK as a directed-energy system intended to physically destroy UAV targets with a laser.
The 2026 demonstration showed GÖKBERK receiving target information through the integrated architecture, acquiring and tracking a UAV and subsequently destroying it with a laser engagement.
The system has been demonstrated in 5 kW and 10 kW configurations. ASELSAN’s counter-UAV architecture uses the laser as a hard-kill layer alongside electronic warfare and high-power electromagnetic systems.
The advantage of a laser-based interceptor is the absence of a conventional ammunition round for each engagement. Its practical effectiveness, however, depends on factors such as atmospheric conditions, target characteristics, tracking stability and available electrical power.
EJDERHA: High-Power Electromagnetic Countermeasure
Another distinctive component is EJDERHA, ASELSAN’s high-power electromagnetic counter-UAV system.
EJDERHA uses directed high-power electromagnetic energy to disrupt or disable the electronic systems of UAVs. ASELSAN says the system uses vacuum-electronics technology to generate high-power electromagnetic waves.
During the 2026 demonstration, fiber-optic-controlled drones were detected by the integrated system and assigned to EJDERHA, which successfully neutralized the demonstrated targets.
This provides an important complementary capability: while conventional RF jamming attempts to disrupt communications or navigation links, high-power electromagnetic effects can target the drone’s electronic hardware itself.
KORKUT and Other Kinetic Options
ASELSAN’s counter-UAV architecture also incorporates conventional kinetic systems.
The KORKUT 150/35 is a very-short-range air-defense system equipped with twin 35 mm guns and programmable ATOM 35 airburst ammunition.
ASELSAN lists an effective range of 4 km, a fire rate of 1,100 rounds per minute, 200 ready-to-fire rounds and a stabilized turret capable of firing on the move. The system uses a 3D search radar for target acquisition and identification, while tracking is supported by a fire-control radar and electro-optical sensors.
The system is designed to engage a range of aerial targets, including UAVs and drone swarms.
The newer DRONEDEF architecture also lists KORKUT 25, a 25 mm airburst weapon system, alongside ŞAHİN systems using smaller-caliber weapons and airburst ammunition.
MİĞFER: Protection Against FPV Drones
One of the more specialized elements is MİĞFER, described by ASELSAN as a self-defense counter-FPV system.
Its role reflects the changing battlefield environment in which small FPV drones can attack individual soldiers, vehicles and other assets at very short range.
Unlike strategic air-defense systems designed to defeat aircraft or cruise missiles, a system such as MİĞFER is intended for the last layer of protection, where reaction time is extremely limited.
ASELSAN has therefore developed its counter-UAS architecture across several ranges and engagement mechanisms rather than relying exclusively on a single interceptor.
Demonstrated Against Multiple Threat Types
The June 2026 demonstration was significant because it was not limited to a conventional radio-controlled quadcopter.
ASELSAN reported scenarios involving:
- Wireless-controlled UAVs
- Fiber-optic-controlled drones
- Multiple UAVs approaching in swarm formations
- Targets attacking from different directions
In the demonstration, İHTAR and its AURA 200G radar formed the detection and tracking layer. The command-and-control architecture evaluated the threats and assigned them to different effectors.
In one scenario, fiber-optic-controlled drones were assigned to EJDERHA. In another, wireless-controlled UAVs were disrupted by İHTAR’s electronic-warfare capabilities. A further scenario demonstrated GÖKBERK’s laser hard-kill capability against a fiber-optic-controlled drone.
This demonstrates the central philosophy of DRONEDEF: detect once, then select the most appropriate countermeasure.
Why Layered Counter-UAS Matters
The economics of modern drone warfare are changing the requirements for air defense.
A small FPV drone can be considerably cheaper than the air-defense missile used to destroy it. At the same time, large numbers of drones can overwhelm systems designed around one-for-one missile engagements.
ASELSAN’s approach attempts to address this problem by combining:
Electronic warfare → directed energy → airburst weapons → interceptor drones → specialized FPV defenses
This creates multiple engagement options and potentially allows expensive interceptors to be reserved for more demanding threats.
The architecture is also designed to support both mobile and fixed-site configurations, making it suitable for critical infrastructure, military installations and convoy protection.
Technical Assessment
The most important feature of ASELSAN’s approach is not any single weapon.
It is the integration of multiple sensor and effector technologies into a common command-and-control architecture.
The system can combine radar detection, electro-optical identification, RF electronic warfare, high-power electromagnetic effects, laser weapons and kinetic systems.
That approach is particularly relevant as drones evolve from relatively simple radio-controlled platforms into systems featuring fiber-optic control, autonomous navigation, thermal sensors and swarm tactics.
ASELSAN’s 2026 demonstration indicates that Türkiye is developing its counter-UAS architecture around this increasingly complex threat environment.
Key Takeaway
ASELSAN’s DRONEDEF represents a move toward layered, networked and multi-effect counter-UAS defense.
Rather than attempting to defeat every drone with a single weapon, the architecture combines detection and tracking with the ability to choose between electronic disruption, electromagnetic attack, laser interception, airburst ammunition and autonomous interceptors.
For modern battlefields dominated by cheap, maneuverable and increasingly sophisticated UAVs, the ability to match the right countermeasure to the right target could become just as important as the performance of the individual weapon system.
